independent games

By way of Animal Crossing, I learn that paying bills/debts is incredibly fun. Now there’s another fanciful game making it’s way to English speakers who can’t understand moonrunes.

Recettear: An Item Shop’s Tale is a game made by EasyGameStation. This whimsical game gives me feel-good vibes while still having a fairy breathing down my neck about paying back a debt incurred by the main character’s (Recette’s) father. It’s a fun game that combines the concept of being an RPG item shop simulator and dungeon crawling. There’s even a bit of “buy low, sell high” gameplay for a rather simplified in-game market. Incredibly addictive if you like simple systems, deep inventories and item hoarding goodness.

Go visit the good guys at Carpe Fulgur and give them some love. From what I’ve read, the full game is aiming for an August release at around $20.

Madotsuki (pictured to the right) is in a rather bad situation. Very bad.

No, she’s not surrounded by aliens. She’s not pitted in a deathmatch against 12 other opponents. Nor any other modern mainstream video game template of ‘main character in a strange predicament’. It’s a very real danger that potentially exists within our real lives. Madotsuki is stuck at the top of a high rise apartment. Stuck may – and probably is – subjective to us because trying to proceed through the front door gives us only one reaction: Madotsuki absolutely refuses to go outside.

The plain room. A scarce balcony. An old television. A very minimal room. The most that the standard city civilian can associate with are her filled bookshelves, a bed, a desk, and a diary. Items that most of us can imagine that might belong to a young woman. All you can do, and thus she as well, is heavily restricted to the aforementioned items. And it’s the bed where it all begins.